


A Fairly Decent Proposal

by reginamoeba



Category: South Park
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Established Relationship, Fluff, Holidays, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-01
Updated: 2019-01-01
Packaged: 2019-10-02 11:28:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17263421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reginamoeba/pseuds/reginamoeba
Summary: Kyle and Eric fell for each other all the way back in high school. Now, Kyle is halfway through his Sophomore year at Columbia University, unsure of his life course, and Eric is living with Kyle, working on his start up company. The two return to their hometown to celebrate Hanukkah with Kyle's family and realize what matters most.





	1. Back Home

**Author's Note:**

  * For [pipercase](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pipercase/gifts).



> This is my Kyman Secret Santa gift for Carly @cartmanfindslove who requested fluff and something with an established relationship. Thank you for being so patient while I figured out how to write fan fiction again. This is my first fic published to the internet so that's exciting! Happy New Year!

Kyle woke with a start, heart racing as Lady Gaga blared from the phone on the far bedside table. He looked at his watch on instinct; it read 4:30 AM, and Kyle groaned. Gaga was about to hit the next verse when Kyle decided she needed an intermission. 

He reached across the king size bed—across Eric’s large, sprawled out form—and even with his reasonably wide wingspan, the phone was still a few inches out of his reach. A quick test of the room temperature left him with only one option. He leaned up in bed and nudged his boyfriend.

“Babe,” Kyle’s groggy voice drifted through the room lit faintly by the moon.

“Babe,” a bit more earnest this time. 

On the third ‘Babe’, Kyle rolled his eyes and gave his sturdy bedfellow an even sturdier shove, which made no headway in waking the larger brunette beside him. Agitated, Kyle swing himself out of bed, shivering when his stiff limbs came in contact with the cold, hardwood floor. He made a mental note to put ‘carpets’ on his wish list ASAP, and shuffled around the bed to turn off the alarm. 

A notification had popped up on the phone as well. The alarm was titled ‘Flight at 7 wake up’. Kyle’s half lidded eyes shot open again as he remembered just what day it was. 

He ran to the light switch, shouting, “WAKE UP, DUMMY, WE’RE GONNA BE LATE!”

Eric blinked awake finally as light flooded the bedroom. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes, only to see his boyfriend’s unruly curls bouncing around the room in a desperate attempt to get all their things together. 

Eric looked at the clock and hid his face under the pillow in attempts to block out the light, letting out a muffled, “Mmm too early”. 

Kyle ripped the pillow out of his hands and Eric let out an exasperated sigh in response.

“Kyle, calm your tits. We literally have two and a half hours before boarding”. 

“Yeah, and your bag is half packed, it takes thirty minutes to get to the airport, and the cab is coming in ten. Now get up!”

He threw a pair of dress slacks at Eric’s head, and Eric caught them mid throw, finally accepting that he would not be able to go back to sleep. He shoved the last few articles of clothing into his bag and grabbed the two matching suits hanging on their curtains. He went to place them carefully in his suitcase, the contents almost overflowing. 

Kyle’s suitcase was already packed by the door, significantly smaller in size because, much to Eric’s chagrin, Kyle possessed no sense of style and depended on the same three basic outfits Eric deemed presentable. 

The Uber outside their apartment gave a honk, and the two made their way to the snow dusted street. Kyle packed their stuff in the trunk, reaching into his pocket instinctually to check for his wallet, keys, and the small box he had grabbed on his way out the door. He breathed a sigh of relief, the small wisp of fog trailing behind him as he took a seat next to his sleepy partner. 

They made it through airport security in record time, even when Eric, still under the influence of sleep, forgot to take his phone out of his pocket before going through the metal detector. By the time the two reached their gate, panting from the relentless pace Kyle set, the clock read 5:30 AM. Eric made sure to remind Kyle of the fact every time he checked his phone.

“Kyle,” Eric whined, “It’s only five thirty and our flight is at seven…”

“Excuse me for trying to be prompt. Remember that time we were literally the only people in the airport and it still took two hours to make it through security?”

“Fuck your prompt. I could have slept an extra hour and we would have been fine.”

Kyle knew Eric was just being pissy and did not have the mental energy to continue the argument so he mumbled with a sigh,

“Stay here and guard our shit. I’ll get us some breakfast.”

Eric lit up at the concept and called after Kyle, “Get me a doughnut or something.”

Kyle turned around to shout back. “Yeah, I know . You want a coffee too?”

Some airport patrons looked over at the noise of the couple as they spoke with a complete lack of awareness of those around them.

Once he and Eric had gotten overpriced airport breakfast and coffee, they became much less defensive and nursed their beverages in silence until the woman on the PA announced “7 AM flight from JFK to Denver Airport boarding now”. 

Eric slept the whole flight, cuddled up against Kyle’s shoulder. Kyle didn’t mind, he had gotten used to Eric’s constant PDA over the three years they had been together. Looking at his boyfriend’s sleeping face, Kyle took in every detail. It was cliche, but when Eric slept, his rough edges and shit eating grin disappeared, and a vulnerable, peaceful boy took his place. Some would describe him as ‘cherubic’. 

Kyle grinned at the mental image of Eric Cartman dressed as Cupid, little wings and arrows slung across his back. 

If that Cupid did exist, Kyle must have been shot by him a couple hundred times because he had become deeply enamored with the man currently drooling on his arm. How his hair was so soft and shiny even messy from sleep. Eric’s body was soft and round. It vaguely reminded Kyle of when he was a kid and got hugs from his mother, but he shook that thought away because, that’s his mom, dude. 

Kyle constantly found himself torn between punching Eric in the face for doing something annoying, or holding Eric’s chubby form in his arms while he covered every inch of him with adoring kisses; over the years, the latter became the norm. Kyle asked himself—as he often did—how he and his childhood frenemy had gone from at each other's throats to in each other’s arms. 

Maybe it had always been there. They certainly were oddly invested in each others’ lives from a young age. Maybe it was because as the two grew, they learned to recognize their own flaws and call each other out on their issues as well. Eric had been in therapy since he was 13 years old, and while Stan was Eric’s number one supporter in that regard, Kyle had slowly seen that Cartman’s flaws had positive traits that paralleled. 

Whatever the reason was, at the end of their Junior year, the two had fallen into a crazy, wild, sloppy high school romance with their trademark bickering and bets. The only  
difference was that Eric and Kyle’s arguments almost always ended in a heated make out session. 

What was even more surprising, Kyle thought, feeling the rise and fall of his boyfriend’s chest against his arm, was that three years later their spark hadn’t faded in the slightest. And now here they were, on a plane to where it all started. With this final thought, Kyle let himself lean back into Eric and closed his eyes to the warmth they shared. He only woke when the plane had made a full landing in Denver. 

 

“Damn, this is hella weird being back in South Park,” Eric commented as he looked out the passenger seat window of their rental car. 

Kyle flinched a little at Eric’s use of ‘hella’, a word he had unfortunately never grown out of and responded, “Yeah, since when did we have a Patagonia?”

“Probably some hippie put it in there. I knew this would happen once I left.” 

Kyle shook his head, “or maybe it’s just another store that sells warm clothes.”

“No, Kyle, I’m telling you. Look away for five seconds and hippies shoot up like weeds. It’s in their blood.”

Eric would have continued his anti-hippie rant, one Kyle had heard many times over, but they had just pulled up to the Broflovski residence. Not much had changed since they were children. The sign beside the door still read 1002 and the green paint had started to chip a bit in places.

“Well, we’re here,” Kyle said, parking on the side of the street. 

Eric swallowed, reminding himself to be on his best behavior. The Broflovski's had mixed feelings towards him now that he was dating their older son. Eric knew he wasn’t their first choice of boyfriend for their good boy, and probably for good reason, he had called Mrs. Broflovski terrible things when he was a kid. Honestly, he couldn’t remember why he thought anti-semitism was acceptable back in the day. 

He knew part of it was his upbringing, what with his mother’s off-handed comments, but another half—the one he only realized when he was thirteen and his therapist stopped him to ask why he kept bringing up this Kyle kid—it was the same reason his peers had pulled girls’ pigtails in preschool; he was hopelessly smitten with that ‘Jersey, Jinger, Joo’.

It had taken years for him to realize the roots of his biases and make some semblance of amends. He just hoped the Broflovskis could separate who he was as a kid from the man he had become. 

All these thoughts swarmed his mind as Kyle pounded on the door, to be greeted by Sheila. Kyle was instantly picked up in a hug from his mother and assaulted with kisses.

“I can’t believe my little bubeleh is back home. How are you? Why haven’t you called me more? Come in, you must be freezing!” 

Eric stood watching all this and gave a sheepish smile to Mrs. Broflovski, a look he was not used to giving but he knew this woman was the one who ultimately controlled his future with Kyle, and that scared him plenty.  
“Hey, Mrs. Broflovski, it’s good to see you again,”

“Oh, hello, Eric, I’m so glad you’re going to be staying with us.”

Eric relaxed a bit as Mrs. Broflovski wrapped him in a hug as well and ushered him into the warmth of their house. 

“I’ll let you boys get settled in the guest room; we turned Kyle’s room into a home gym since he went off to Columbia.”

Kyle looked slightly irked, “Wow, thanks, Ma. Glad to know my absence allowed for some much needed renovations,”

Sheila unaware of her son’s discomfort replied, “Well, it’s not like you were using it.”

“I guess. Where’s dad?” Kyle said, trying to change the topic.

“Oh you know, busy at the office he’ll be home by dinner.” 

Kyle looked down. ‘Typical’, he thought. He grabbed Eric’s hand and tugged him towards the staircase.

“Well, Ma, we’re pretty tired from all that travel. We should probably get settled.” 

“Oh, alright. Shout if you need anything,” she called as the two boys climbed the stairs with their bags.

“Sure thing, Ma,” Kyle said curtly, before shutting the door to the guest room. 

Eric sat on the bed and looked at Kyle, trying to read his expression. He knew that ever since the skankhunt fiasco, Kyle didn’t trust Gerald Broflovski as far as he could throw him. 

To shift the mood, Eric turned to Kyle and said, “You’re becoming such a mama’s boy.”

“No, I am not,” Kyle replied defensively, “Besides, look who’s talking. You call your mom once a day”.

“Nuh uh, she calls me. And it’s not every day. It’s every other day, so, suck on that, smart ass.”

“Maybe I will,” Kyle quipped, putting on his joking seduction face, the one Eric once described as an off brand Blue Steel. With those words, he slowly made his way closer to Eric. 

“Oh-ho, really?” Eric challenged, playing along. 

Kyle leaned forward and whispered in Eric’s ear. He sat up straighter at Kyle’s words, raising his eyebrows. He whispered his response, a cocky grin painting his face. Kyle gasped and reeled back, blushing.

He gave Eric a punch in the shoulder, “You kiss your mother with that mouth?”

Eric pulled Kyle closer again saying “ You know where this mouth’s been, babe.”

Kyle opened his mouth to respond, and Eric took the opportunity to join their lips, causing Kyle’s words to turn into a confused ‘mmnnf’. Eric kept at it, Kyle relaxing into the kiss as they went. He tickled Eric’s side as he snuck his tongue past Eric’s teeth. The two swapped spit with vigor, laughing and wrapping their arms around each other. Eric’s hands flew to Kyle’s unruly curls, loving how his fingers got tangled in each strand of those ginger locks. 

Kyle pushed Eric down onto the bed and deepened their kiss, laying on top of his soft body, sliding his knee between ample thighs. After three years of kissing him like this, Kyle never got tired of exploring his lover’s skin, finding the spots that turned Eric into a puddle of moans. He succeeded in finding one such place behind Eric’s ear, and Eric’s breath hitched beautifully as he shifted his hips to gain more contact with Kyle’s lean form. When they kissed like this, Eric felt like they were seventeen again, just learning about love and navigating their feelings for each other. 

Now, Eric had no doubt in his mind how he felt about Kyle; he would be perfectly happy to spend the rest of his life with him, kissing him, loving him like this. If only his teenage self could see him now. 

A tiny irrational voice in the back of his head whispered, “but what if he doesn’t feel the same way?” 

But Kyle extinguished that unwelcome anxiety with a string of kisses down his jaw. Eric felt the light stubble of a day’s travel scratch against his face like a cat’s tongue as Kyle leaned in, fingers clawing at Eric’s shirt. Kyle had decided the shirt was an unwanted obstacle in his access to Eric’s pale chest, and Eric was happy to part with it. 

Kyle continued to kiss a path down Eric’s body as Eric pulled the shirt over his head. The shirt was over his face and Kyle’s breath was teasing Eric’s hips when a voice pulled them back to reality.

“Can you make out somewhere else?” The irate teen in the doorway growled. 

As the two tried to untangle their limbs, Kyle turned bright red and shouted at his brother.  
“Ike, what the fuck!? You can’t just barge in here. What if we were fucking? Damn, at least knock, Jesus Christ, dude!” 

“Well, I can hear everything. So can you guys like, not fuck while I’m next door?” 

“Oh right, yeah. As long as you promise to never barge in here like that again.”

“Ugh. Whatever, fine. Welcome home, bro. Hey, Cartman.”

Ike went back to his room, muttering under his breath.

The mood somewhat dead, Kyle and Eric laid down on the bed, Kyle’s tall yet lean form surrounding Eric’s shorter, chubbier body. Kyle took in the familiar scent of his boyfriend; the same shampoo he’d used for years. It was a scent Kyle still couldn’t place and part of him wanted to keep it that way so the scent would always just be ‘Eric’ to him. 

Kyle wasn’t lying, they were exhausted from their trip and Eric was so warm that sleep felt very enticing. As Kyle’s eyes started to droop, an unmistakable “What’s up gamers, it’s ya boi Ike back for another epic play through,” was heard through the wall. Which shook them out of semi-sleep and sent the two into a hysterical laughing fit. 

Kyle smirked, saying “Remember when you were a youtuber?” 

“Yes, I do, Kyle. Probably one of my best ideas to date,” 

“Seriously, dude?”

“Yeah, I made so much cash just from ripping on people on the internet. It was totally sweet. Actually, maybe I should go back to it,”

“I swear, if you become a YouTuber again, I will ditch your ass so fast,” Kyle retorted, laughing at the concept. 

“What you don’t like Cartman Brah?” Eric spoke, doing a silly impression of his internet persona. 

“You’re on thin fucking ice,” Kyle jabbed jokingly, snuggling in closer as he said this.

The two realized they had completely lost track of time when they heard Sheila’s “Boys, dinner!”

The two bounded down the stairs with Ike close behind excited for Sheila’s cooking. Sheila made the best food around Hanukkah and this time wasn’t any different. She had made a delicious looking kugel and scrumptious jelly doughnuts and Kyle’s mouth watered at the sight. “Help yourselves boys, but save some for your father, he’s going to be home a little later than expected”.

Kyle scoffed, putting some kugel on his plate, “Is he ever home on time?” 

“Now Kyle don’t say that, he works hard, provides for this family, you know that.”

“Whatever” Kyle said, giving Ike a knowing look.

Eric jumped in, “Wow Mrs. Brovflovski, what is this?” 

“That’s latkes Eric, a classic Hanukkah dish.”

“It’s so good!” Eric’s eyes lit up as he ate his plateful in record time. 

Kyle hadn’t been sure how Eric would do with all the Hanukkah things they had planned so knowing Eric would at least appreciate the food made him happy.  
His mood soured again as his mother looked over her kugel to ask “ So Kyle, I know you’ve been taking a lot of different courses, have you decided on a major yet?” 

Kyle had not and he hated thinking about it. He knew he wasn’t the only one who didn’t have his life figured out at 20 but sometimes it damn near felt like it. I mean, Tweek and Craig were tying the knot, which surprised no one but still, what was he doing? 

Kyle looked down at his plate and mumbled “I’m figuring it out. I have a bit before I need to declare a major anyway.” He tried to deflect the question to Eric, “Eric is doing something really cool though.” 

Eric shot Kyle a dirty look at being put on the spot but tried to play it off cool. “Yeah, it’s pretty cool, I guess. A couple computer meganerds I met in college and I are working on marketing space travel to the public and making it more accessible.” 

“That’s so interesting. Are you doing this alongside your studies?” 

“Oh, no, I dropped out after we gained some momentum to put more energy into the project. I don’t really understand the nerdy science of it all but I’m pretty good at marketing it. We’re in the running for a pretty hefty grant soon.”

“Wow, look at you Mr. Business. I’m very impressed.” Sheila gave him an assuring pat on the arm.

“Thank you Mrs. Brovflovski. And Kyle here has been kind enough to let me live with him for a few month while we get the business on its feet.” 

Eric gave his boyfriend a genuine smile, he really meant it. Without Kyle, Eric wasn’t sure where he’d be. 

“I had to learn how to live with a total slob though.” Eric followed up, earning a light kick under the table. 

At Sheila’s insistence, they had waited an hour for Gerald’s return before resorting to lighting the menorah without him saying, “he’s probably just busy.” 

The rest of the Brovflovskis stood around the candle and said their prayers. Eric watched on and felt a warm feeling in his heart grow as the candle melted. The warmth was accompanied by a twinge of guilt as he realized they trusted him with this celebration, even after everything he did. 

He mulled this over even more as he and Kyle lay in bed together later that night, Kyle already fast asleep. Eric felt Kyle’s soft slow breath on his back and allowed himself to let go of the thought, drifting off into sleep.


	2. Collision

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kyle takes Eric on an excursion and everything seems to make a little bit more sense.

The next morning Kyle awoke to the late morning light of winter streaming in through the window in a bright triangle of warmth. Kyle had his hands outreached when he opened his eyes but they were sorely missing his larger partner between them. He called out for Eric groggily, running a hand through his messy curls and getting out of bed. The sound of animated voices and the smell of pancakes wafting from downstairs drew Kyle down into the kitchen. 

To his surprise, he saw Eric and Sheila chatting away like they were old friends. Eric sipped his tea as Sheila laughed at something Kyle suspected was about him. Part of him swore he must still be dreaming. Winning over his mother was no easy feat on it’s own but with the er, complicated history Eric and Sheila had, Kyle feared it would be downright impossible.

He stood halfway down the staircase voyeuristically appreciating the scene before him until his stomach demanded food and forced him to interrupt.

“Good morning bubbie, how did you sleep?” Sheila greeted, giving her son a kiss on the cheek.

“Pretty good Ma.” He turned to Eric and said “Was wondering where you were.”

“Thought I’d let you sleep. Besides, Sheila and I just had the best conversation.”

“What about?” Kyle inquired, suspecting the answer.

Eric cut into his half finished breakfast and looked up at Kyle matter of factly “you of course. Trying to get all the embarrassing stories I can.”

“You already know them. Besides, I’ve got way more stuff on you.” Kyle assured his partner, stealing a strawberry from Eric’s plate.

“Ey!” Eric countered, grabbing his plate defensively. “Get your own.”

“Fine”, Kyle shrugged, grabbing a plate and giving into his hunger. He scarfed it down in record time, realizing it had been months since he had eaten a breakfast more complicated than black coffee and cereal. “Wow Ma, these are amazing!”

“Thank you Kyle.” Sheila said, handing him a glass of milk to go with breakfast. “Did you take your insulin yet?” 

“Not yet” Kyle responded, rubbing the back of his neck. Sheila was back in mom mode and Kyle wondered if there would be a day when Sheila saw him as anything but her perfect little boy. He appreciated the reminder though and went back upstairs to do so and get dressed.

After administering his insulin he looked at himself in the mirror. Ever since that list in fourth grade, Kyle had doubted his appearance was anything better than “average”. Awfully messy bright red curls atop a skinny, somewhat bony frame. He wasn’t particularly tall, but he did have some visible muscle that he was proud of. Eric always told him he was perfect but Kyle doubted him. He supposed it was all subjective. It had taken months for Kyle to get Eric to show himself without anything covering his body. But when Eric finally did, Kyle couldn’t describe the sight in words other than wholly desirable. He looked away from the mirror, coming to the conclusion that even if he didn’t see where Eric was coming from, as long as Eric liked him this way it would be enough. He put on a pair of jeans, a green sweater, and an orange jacket vest over top. It wasn’t particularly fashionable but he felt comfortable in it. 

Eric called from the bottom of the stairs. “You almost done Miss America? Jesus, Heidi got ready faster than you.”

Kyle shouted back, “Calm your tits. We don’t have anywhere to be.”

“LANGUAGE, KYLE!” Sheila shouted from elsewhere in the house.

Kyle cringed, “Sorry Ma!”

Kyle reached into his pants from the day before and pulled out the small box. He peeked at the object inside. A thin band of silver held in purple velvet. It had set him back a quite few bucks but he had saved for it with money from his summer job. He had been waiting for the right moment to ask but one thing kept him from popping the question - 'what would Sheila say?' Fuck Gerald. Kyle didn’t care what he thought, but he always had a soft spot for his mother. He knew she wanted only the best for him and would smite him if he went against her will. After watching she and Eric getting all chummy at breakfast, Kyle felt something fall into place in his heart. And Kyle’s heart told his head that if he didn’t ask this dumbass to marry him soon he would never forgive himself.  
With this in mind, he placed the box in his pocket and ran downstairs.

“Hey, let’s get out of the house for a bit.” Kyle said, grabbing Eric’s hand and leading him out to Sheila’s minivan shouting “Ma we’re going ice skating. We’ll be back in a bit.”  
Making sure he got outside before she told him to bring his brother with him.

“Ice skating? You just said we don’t have anywhere to be.”, Eric inquired somewhat suspiciously.

“I lied. Come on.” Kyle said, getting in the driver’s seat. 

They made a quick detour to Liane’s house to grab Eric’s skates. “Oh you really meant ice skating. That’s a first.” He joked, jumping back into the passenger seat.

As they neared the pond, Kyle’s head began to spin. Was he really going to do this? No, it had to be perfect. 

Stark’s Pond had known them as long as they had known each other and had been the stage for many establishing moments in their relationship. It was home to their earliest interactions as children. It was where Eric had tried to kill Kyle at least once. On the bench, across the lake Kyle had his first, albeit sloppy, french kiss. As high schoolers, they had sat for hours on that bench, perfectly content to just hold hands away from the prying eyes of their small mountain town. Unlike the rest of South Park, the lake hadn’t changed much from when they were kids. 

“Jesus Christ it’s cold.” Eric bitched as he shoved the second skate onto his foot. 

“You’re such a baby” Kyle scoffed, noting the tight fit of his skates. it had been a few years he supposed.

In fact, neither of them had been skating much since middle school. Life and other interests took over as the boys aged and skating had become a rare activity. 

Kyle stood on shaky knees as he stepped out on the ice and promptly fell flat on his ass, earning a substantial laugh from Eric. 

“Like you would do any better?” Kyle said, pushing himself back up.

“I would. Watch.” Eric said cockily only to end up landing at the same spot Kyle had. 

Kyle stood above Eric and extended a hand. “What were you saying?”

Eric shook his head, taking Kyle’s hand. Asserting, “I was just getting my footing”, and started off across the lake, more sure footed this time.

“Bullshit” Kyle said, rolling his eyes as he picked up a handful of snow and packed it in his hands. He followed behind Eric with a sneaky grin on his face, holding the snowball behind his back.

“Hey Babe, did you see that?” Kyle asked, pointing dramatically away from him.

Eric crossed his arms as they skated. “Ha, you really think I would fall for tha-“  
But before he could finish, Kyle’s snowball hit him in the face.

“Mother fucker!” Eric shouted as wiped the snow away and bent to make his own snowball. “You’re going down.”

“You wish!” Kyle shouted back, already getting a head start in the opposite direction. 

“Ey! Get back here.” Eric started after him. 

They went in this manner, Kyle skating around the pond as fast as he could with Eric in hot pursuit, rather clumsily. They both made throws but never made any hits. 

Eric was a foot away from Kyle, perfect throwing distance. He lined up to take his shot, ignorant of the frozen root in his path. Before he knew it, he was going down. Eric tumbled, taking Kyle down with him onto the snowy bank of the pond. 

They ended up parallel, green eyes intently fixed on blue. It wasn’t the fall that took Kyle’s breath away in that moment; it was the brunette, chubby cheeks rouged from their game and the cold air, staring back at him, eyes wide. 

Overwhelmed by the swelling in his heart and having to teach his lungs how to breathe and Eric looking that perfect, Kyle finally said what he’d been thinking for months. What he thought way back in July when he bought the small box that still resided in his pocket. 

Barely above a whisper, Kyle breathed, “Marry me.”

Eric’s eyes widened even more. 

“What?” Eric whispered back.

Kyle erupted into soft laughter, relieved to have finally said the words he had rehearsed in the mirror so many times.

Louder, bolder this time Kyle said “Marry me.”

Eric definitely heard him and was so confused his inner bastard responded “Huh? What was that? Hairy tree?”

Kyle rolled his eyes, grabbed a handful of snow, and threw it at Eric as he shouted “I said marry me jackass!”

He fished the ring which had weighed down his pocket for so long and showed the ring to Eric with one hand, holding Eric’s face in his other gloved hand.

“Please…” he stated sincerely, biting his lip out of habit.

Eric stared at the ring for what felt like a century, fully realizing the reality of what Kyle asked. He swallowed and Kyle’s heart sank a good six feet into the ground but the next moment, Eric threw himself at Kyle.

“YOU BET YOUR SWEET ASS I WILL!” Eric roared, covering Kyle with adoring kisses as Kyle slipped Eric’s glove off and placed the cool metal on Eric’s ring finger.

They stayed like this in the snow for quite some time, allowing themselves to become a warm unit on the frigid terrain. At some point, Kyle leaned back on the snow and joked “I’m not taking your last name though.”

Eric was unfazed. “Fine but we’re getting married on Christmas. Twice as many presents.”

Kyle added on “by a rabbi.”

Eric seconded, “by a rabbi. And our first song has to be ‘I Swear’.”

Kyle laughed at this. “Seriously? Just because you sang it once at a basketball game?”

Eric pouted. “It’s our song Kyle. It has to be or first song. This is kind of a deal breaker for me.”

Kyle gave Eric a light shove sighing, “You are so impossible. It’s a good thing I love you.”

Eric looked at the ring on his hand. Sure, it was cold as hell out but he refused to put his glove back on. He didn’t care if he got frostbite, the ring was just so magnificent. He felt something akin to deja vu. This moment felt as if it were fated to happen all along and yet totally unexpected but totally, completely welcome. 

Eric turned to Kyle and said, more sincerely than he had ever said anything else in his life, “I love you too Kyle.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mad shoutout to Eva, Lai, Anna, and Shay for helping me navigate the writing process and inspiring me to write this.


End file.
